The danger of the “platform power” accumulated by Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter arises from their ability to control the foundational infrastructure of our economic, informational, and political life. Even if they didn’t spend a dime on lobbying or influencing elected officials, this power would still pose a grave threat to democracy and economic opportunity. The fact that these companies provide enormously popular and useful goods and services is indisputable—but also beside the point. The central issue here is not simply the value for the consumer. Instead it is vast,unaccountable private power over the foundations of contemporary society and politics. In a word, the central issue is democracy.

He goes on to argue that there are lessons to be learnt from regulating public utility companies and basic infrastructure: anti-trust laws, federal oversight of net neutrality, or publicly run alternatives to private infrastructure (kind of like this platform!).

For me personally, one niggling question that keeps coming back is whether there lessons to be learnt from the regulation of other sectors with an enormous consolidation of power - such as, say, the agrifood business.